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My name is Oh My! and I am here to help you! Now that we are "friends" please call me Gary.

If you would allow me to call you by your first name I would prefer to do that.

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Ground Rules:

First, I would like to inform you that most of us here at Bleeping Computer offer our expert assistance out of the goodness of our hearts. Please try to match our commitment to you with your patience toward us. If this was easy we would never have met.

Please do not run any tools or take any steps other than those I will provide for you while we work on your computer together. I need to be certain about the state of your computer in order to provide appropriate and effective steps for you to take. Most often "well intentioned" (and usually panic driven!) independent efforts can make things much worse for both of us. If at any point you would prefer to take your own steps please let me know, I will not be offended. I would be happy to focus on the many others who are waiting in line for assistance.

Please perform all steps in the order they are listed in each set of instructions. Some steps may be a bit complicated. If things are not clear, be sure to stop and let me know. We need to work on this together with confidence.

Please copy and paste all logs into your post unless directed otherwise. Please do not re-run any programs I suggest. If you encounter problems simply stop and tell me.

When you post your reply, use the button instead.

In the upper right hand corner of the topic you will see the button. Click on this then choose Immediate E-Mail notification and then Proceed and you will be sent an email once I have posted a response.

If you do not reply to your topic after 5 days we assume it has been abandoned and I will close it.

When your computer is clean I will alert you of such. I will also provide for you detailed information about how you can combat future infections.

I would like to remind you to make no further changes to your computer unless I direct you to do so.

Now let's get started

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Now that I am assisting you, you can expect that I will be very responsive to your situation. If you are able, I would request you check this thread at least once per day so that we can try to resolve your issues effectively and efficiently. If you are going to be delayed please be considerate and post that information so that I know you are still with me. Unfortunately, there are many people waiting to be assisted and not enough of us at BleepingComputer to go around. I appreciate your understanding and diligence.

Thank you for your patience thus far. While I review our situation please run the below for me.

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Farbar Recovery Scan Tool (FRST)

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Download Farbar Recover Scan Tool for either 32 bit or 64 bit systems and save it to your desktop <<< Important

If you are unsure if you have 32 bit or 64 bit simply download and try one. If that doesn't run properly the other one should

Double click the icon

Click Yes to the disclaimer

Make sure the Addition.txt box is checked

Click Scan and allow the program to run

Click OK on the Scan complete screen, then OK on the Addition.txt pop up screen

C:\Windows\System32\winlogon.exe => File is digitally signed
C:\Windows\System32\wininit.exe => File is digitally signed
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\wininit.exe => File is digitally signed
C:\Windows\explorer.exe => File is digitally signed
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\explorer.exe => File is digitally signed
C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe => File is digitally signed
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\svchost.exe => File is digitally signed
C:\Windows\System32\services.exe => File is digitally signed
C:\Windows\System32\User32.dll => File is digitally signed
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\User32.dll => File is digitally signed
C:\Windows\System32\userinit.exe => File is digitally signed
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\userinit.exe => File is digitally signed
C:\Windows\System32\rpcss.dll => File is digitally signed
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\volsnap.sys => File is digitally signed

Error: (08/18/2014 11:37:31 PM) (Source: ACPI) (EventID: 13) (User: )
Description: : The embedded controller (EC) did not respond within the specified timeout period. This may indicate that there is an error in the EC hardware or firmware or that the BIOS is accessing the EC incorrectly. You should check with your computer manufacturer for an upgraded BIOS. In some situations, this error may cause the computer to function incorrectly.

CodeIntegrity Errors:
===================================
Date: 2013-08-15 23:29:03.978
Description: Windows is unable to verify the image integrity of the file \Device\HarddiskVolume3\ComboFix\catchme.sys because file hash could not be found on the system. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source.

Date: 2013-08-15 23:29:03.791
Description: Windows is unable to verify the image integrity of the file \Device\HarddiskVolume3\ComboFix\catchme.sys because file hash could not be found on the system. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source.

Date: 2012-09-21 09:03:56.667
Description: Windows is unable to verify the image integrity of the file \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\System32\drivers\usbaapl64.sys because file hash could not be found on the system. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source.

Date: 2012-09-21 09:03:56.427
Description: Windows is unable to verify the image integrity of the file \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\System32\drivers\usbaapl64.sys because file hash could not be found on the system. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source.

Date: 2012-09-21 09:03:49.973
Description: Windows is unable to verify the image integrity of the file \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\System32\drivers\usbaapl64.sys because file hash could not be found on the system. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source.

Date: 2012-09-21 09:03:49.733
Description: Windows is unable to verify the image integrity of the file \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\System32\drivers\usbaapl64.sys because file hash could not be found on the system. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source.

Date: 2012-09-21 09:03:30.411
Description: Windows is unable to verify the image integrity of the file \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\System32\drivers\usbaapl64.sys because file hash could not be found on the system. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source.

Date: 2012-09-21 09:03:30.191
Description: Windows is unable to verify the image integrity of the file \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\System32\drivers\usbaapl64.sys because file hash could not be found on the system. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source.

Date: 2012-09-21 09:03:26.708
Description: Windows is unable to verify the image integrity of the file \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\System32\drivers\usbaapl64.sys because file hash could not be found on the system. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source.

Date: 2012-09-21 09:03:26.448
Description: Windows is unable to verify the image integrity of the file \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\System32\drivers\usbaapl64.sys because file hash could not be found on the system. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source.

Disable your AntiVirus and AntiSpyware applications, usually via a right click on the System Tray icon. They may otherwise interfere with our tools. (Click on this link to see a list of programs that should be disabled. The list is not all inclusive.)

Launch FRST and press the Fix button just once and wait, the program will automatically launch fixlist.txt.

The tool will create a log on the desktop called Fixlog.txt. Please copy and paste the contents of the file in your reply.

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Run Combofix in Vista/7

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Combofix is a very powerful tool and special attention must be taken to allow it to work properly. Please pay careful attention to the following instructions.

sUBs, the author of Combofix, recommends you to uninstall AVG or CA Internet Security before running the program. If you have either of these programs on your computer please uninstall them using AppRemover which can be downloaded here. We will be sure to reinstall the Antivirus program once we are finished using Combofix.

Disable your AntiVirus and AntiSpyware applications, usually via a right click on the System Tray icon. They may otherwise interfere with our tools. (Click on this link to see a list of programs that should be disabled. The list is not all inclusive.)

Double click on Combofix.exe and follow the prompts. It is important you do not mouseclick while the program is running or it may stall.

Note #1: Often times it may appear as if ComboFix has stopped working. To verify it is still running please do one of the following below. If, based on the below, you have concluded ComboFix has stopped running please stop and advise me.

Check your computer clock. If it is still running then so is ComboFix

Open Task Manager and select the Applications Tab. If the status of AutoScan is Running, then ComboFix is running

Open Task Manager and select the Processes Tab. Under Image Name look for files ending in .3xe. If there are fluctuating numbers under CPU and Mem Usage then ComboFix is running

Note #2: If you receive the following error "Illegal operation attempted on a registery key that has been marked for deletion" please just restart your computer to resolve this issue

If Combofix fails to run properly using the above instructions please attempt the following:

Right click on the Combofix icon on your desktop and select Delete

Download a new copy but rename it to freshcopy.exe first, then save it to your desktop

Now download RKill.exe (or RKill renamed as iExplore.exe if the first one doesn't work properly) and save it to your desktop

Junkware took a while to run and stalled after 4 hours the first time. Otherwise everything ran OK. Please find logs detailed below. Computer running OKish, except when I minimise a browser window for example, the icons on the desktop are white and take about 0.5-1 second to appear.

Yes, I needed to change to refresh rate from 59 to 60Hz. I've rebuilt my icon cache, and things seem a bit smoother now. Fan speed lower too. the only thing that's a bit slow still is the wifi icon is slow to appear and occasionally takes up to a minute to connect despite the computer being next to the router. Any thoughts?

There are many factors affecting connectivity to a router, proximity is only one of them. In reviewing your computer details it appears you have an older network driver and an updated one is available. Please click here then follow the instructions to download and install the latest driver.

Tried to install new driver but following the instructions doesn't work - just get to a window stating another version is installed, and telling me to go to add/remove programs instead. Is this the only way? I would rather overwrite a driver rather than completely uninstall this one in case I lose all connectivity.

Thanks for all your help so far. Unfortunately, I'm still unable to update my wifi driver despite following your instructions to the letter. The computer fails to recognise the driver is out of date. Otherwise the background picture on my desktop is slowly gaining more black and white pixels, and the refresh rate on the monitor keeps returning to 59Hz.